home improvements help sell houses?

[seanh]

Yeah, seems like a no-brainer. There was an article in one of the papers (I can't find the link) a few days ago, advising people to 'update' their houses from the 1970's, poorly decorated time warps they are, by remodeling the kitchen, putting in new lighting fixtures, etc. so that potential buyers aren't scared away.

We looked at a few houses last summer, that obviously had this kind of treatment done. The obvious problem is that you are paying for the owner's dubious taste, and their recent investment, without it really being what you want.

Personally I'd rather have it original and crappy, but in need of updating, vs. new and crappy, but without any functional or otherwise cosmetic issues. Why have to pay for the owners trying to dress something up, and recover the cost?

I hope sellers don't all rush to cover their kitchens in fake granite-colored vinyl, like the places I last looked at, did.

[perfectfire]

I agree on wanting a house that needs updates rather than a house that has been recently remodeled with "luxury" finishes. What gets me is that even the NAR publishes stats about how remodels will consistently pull in less money than was put into them and yet realtors constantly tell their clients that to get their house to sell in a slow market they need to make it look fancy.

Edit: Hmm, any chance you could enable strikeout in bbcode?

[MrRational]

Generally the only types of remodels that will get you more money (or at least match or exceed what you put into them) are the ones that are structural in nature, like an extra bedroom or expanding the kitchen.

The cosmetic updates will definately help sell faster, especially in a slow market, but you'll rarely get everything out of them that you put in.

[The Tim]

Here's the link.

Seattle Times:

[The Tim]

Testing, 1, 2, 3...


Apparently yes, I can add it.

[rose-colored-coolaid]

Thanks Tim. I've wanted to use that in the past to be witty, but alas someone never added it.

[faster]

I also always wonder about the quality of "improvements" made right before a sale. I know my mindset would be different if I was remodeling a kitchen just to help sell a house vs. remodeling a kitchen because I wanted a nice kitchen.

[EconE]

I for one think that they help to sell houses...and if done "correctly" , can be quite profitable...even in a "down market"

I've been following Los Angeles RE...a market I'm sure that we can all agree on being a "down market"...and came across a realtor/flipper who is actually doing quite well. A true artist also. I toured one of his open houses recently and his work was incredible and methodical. He seems to buy the houses that have been owned for a long time (bought waaaay pre-bubble), have "good bones" and good potential.

Looks like that house is now "looking for backup offers" and has crushed all the neighborhood competion.

http://redfin.com/stingray/do/printable ... id=1331092

For more of his remodels just check out http://www.jadartanddesign.com and click on the "homes" link to see a few (not all) of his others.

He has sold roughly a house a month for the last 4 months.

I have to say...this guy's got it down to a science.

[Alan]

Does he do his own work? If so then he could get paid similarly working on other people's houses without taking the leverage risk.

Is he an excellent manager of contractors? If so then he could get paid similarly doing work on other people's houses without taking the leverage risk.

[EconE]

Alan...

He probably has crews that run like a swiss watch is my best guess. I've run the numbers on a few houses that he has sold recently as I overheard him discuss what $ amount he was into some of them with some other professional flippers (just a guess) that came to the open house to check out his work. Some local realtors are also blown away at his success. Also...being a realtor...like Ardell has said...he gets paid commission when he buys it and when he sells it. Not including the RE commissions, after selling the house he probably nets somewhere around 300k after all his expenses including carrying costs etc. His track record pretty much speaks for itself and I've seen his work first hand so I can attest to it's quality. He also turns the houses over fairly quickly.

Also...remodeling work for actual homeowners has slowed down considerably in the past year according to my sources down there. The prices may not seem to be falling as fast as one might think when one looks at the stats...but the houses that people are getting are quite a bit nicer than the ones that people were overpaying for in 2005/6.